Autographic camera



J. P. BETHKE.

AUTOGRAPHIC CAMERA.

APPLICATION FILED .IAN.9, 191a.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

' INVENTOI? 9m 7 am By WW 9 Tia/A J. P. BETHKE.

AUTOGRAPHIC CAMERA.

APPLICATION HLED JAN. 9, 1918- 1,375,8 1 5. Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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JOHN P. BETHKE. OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LOUISSCHLESINGER. OF MILWAUKEE. WISC0NSIN.-

AUTOGRAPHIC CAMERA.

Application filed January 9, 1918.

To (17/ [P710112 '17 may concern:

lie it known that I. JoIIN F. BE'IIIKE, a citizen of the United States.and resident of l\lilwankee. in the county of l\"lilwankee and State of\Visconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Antographieameras. of which the following is a description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specificalion.

The invention relates to autographic cameras and is more particularlydesigned to provide a device. used in connection with a camera wherebythe sensitized material in the camera may be provided with desired data.said data being light printed on the sensitized material so as to becomeapparent upon development of said material.

The invention is more particularly applicable to that type ofautographic device in which the data is light printed upon the film bymeans of light emitted from an actinic ray emitting or luminous mediumsuch as luminous paint or a radioactive substance. Luminous paint whichcontains phosphorescent zinc, barium or calcium sulfid, has the propertyof giving off actinic rays after it has been exposed to light. Purelyradioactive substances do not depend upon any exterior light to excitethem but give off rays of light by their own powers. The presentinvention may be used in connection with either of the above namedsources of light.

In my application for patent Serial Number 27.031. filed May 10, 1915, Ihave shown and described an autographic device in which a writingsurface is provided with an actinic ray emitting coating, the exposureof light from said coating being controlled by a sliding cover which isinterposed between said surface and the sensitized material. In thisformer construction the exposure is made by pulling out this slidingcover and in so doing that portion of the surface uncovered first isexposed to the film longer than the other portions so that the exposureis not entirely uniform. In the present invention Ihave dispensed withthis sliding cover which results in the following advantages: Thewriting surface is placed in direct contact with the sensitized materialwhich insures clear printing, the whole writing surface issimultaneously exposed to light which results in uniform exposure andprinting.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

Serial No. 211,079.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. simple means forcontrolling the exposure, of the data to the film.

Another object of the invention resides in .the manner of supporting thewriting surface for receiving writing when withdrawn from the camera.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of means forautomatically exposmg the actinic material to light while the writing isbeing done.

With these and other objects in View the lnvention further consists inthe several features hereinafter described.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a rear view of the camera with the back removed showing thedevice in printing position, part of the film being broken away;

F 1g. 2 is a section taken on the line 22 a' of 1 1g. 1; parts beingbroken away;

Flg. 3 1s a detail sectional view, similar to Fig. 1, parts being brokenaway;

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the device withdrawn from the camera inposition for receiving writing;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5 of Fig. 1, together with thecamera back;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a. detail plan View of the shutter, parts being broken away;

Fig. 8 is a detail view of a modified form of shutter;

Fig. 9 is a detail view of another form of shutter;

Fig. 10 is a section taken on the line 10-10 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 11 is a detail enlarged sectional view similar to Fig. 5 showing aportion of the device with the parts in printing position;

Fig. 12 is a section taken on the line 1212 of Fig. 4, and i Fig. 13 isa detail view of a further modified form of shutter.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 12 designates the camera case of afolding camera of usual construction provided with a removable back 12',13 the bellows to which the lens and its mechanism (not shown) aresecured, 14 the spools, and 15 the sensitized material, which in thepresent instance is a sensitized photographic film, which is unrolledfrom one spool and wound on the other as well understood by personsskilled Fig. 2.

A member is fitted into one side of the camera casing adjacent the sides17 and 18 and is provided with a curved bearing portion 21 and a slot 22communicating with this bearing portion and. the interigr of theycamera. Pivotally mounted with the bearmeans of pivot pins 23 ingportion 21 by c is a cylindrical hinge member 24 having an axiallyextending slot 25 therein adapted to register with the slot 22 but belngof less width one way than said slot 22, and recesses 26 and 27 adjacentopposite ends and sides of the slot 25.

Slidably movable within the slots 25 and 22 is a container 28 havingopen ends 29 and 30. This container consists of a member forming abottom portion 31, sides 32 and part top portion 33. 'The rest of thetop is formed by a piece of glass 34 having its outer surface 34 groundto form a writing surface and a top piece 35 secured' to the sides 32.The bottom portion 31 has a depending flange 31 to assist in moving thecontainer with respect to the camera and the hinge member 24. 1

Within the container is a strip of paper 36 secured to the bottomthereof and provided with a luminous coating 37 of luminous paint orwith a radio active substance and disposed above this paper and held infixed position against the same is a plate 38 preferably of metalprovided with a plurality of spaced apart transversely extendingopenings 39 forming a grid so that the light emitted from the luminouscoating will shine through said openings 39. I

Slidably mounted within the container and upon the plate 38 and betweensaid plate and the top of the container is a shutter 40. At one end thisshutter is provided with a projection or stop 41 which moves in a notch42 in the bottom 31 at the open end 30 of the container and projectsslightly below said bottom to register with the recess 26 in the member24.

At the other end the shutter is secured to a slide 43, forming part ofthe shutter, by any suitable means as rivets 43, only one being shown,said slide being provided with a projection 44 disposed adjacent therecess 27 in the member 24. The projection 41 of the shutter 40 and theend 30 of the container are curved to conform to the curvature of thebearing portion 22 for reasons hereinafter set forth. Of course it willbe understood that the shutter 40 and the slide 43 may be made in onepiece.

In Figs. 5, '7 and 11 I have shown the shutter 40 formed of a metalplate provided with spaced apart transversely extending openings 44forming a grid, which'openings can be brought into register with theopenings 39 so that the light emitted from the luminous coating willpass through these alined openings.

In Fig. 8 I show a shutter 40 in which the openings 44 are holesarranged in stag- "43 form a .recess 47 in which is disposed a bentspring 48 said spring bearing against said projection 46 and a'shouldered portion 49 of the slide 43 to normally hold the shutter 40 innon-exposing position, as shown in Fig. 5.

The side 50 of the slot 22 and the side of slot 25 in line therewithnormally lie in a plane parallel to the surface of the film 15 and soclose to the plane of the film that when the container is in placewithin the camera its top will be in direct contact with the film whichinsures clear printing. It will be noted in this connection that on themovement of the container to its position within the camera it isimmediately placed in printing position andthus any special means formoving the, writing surface or sensitized material into printing contactafter said surface is within the camera is eliminated.

As shown in Fig. 2 one side of the container is in sliding contact withthe side 18 of the casing and the container moves transversely of thefilm in the space between the film 15 and the side 17 of the casing. Ofcoursethe sides 17 and 18 of the casing protect that portion of the filmwhich receives the autograph from the light coming through the cameralens.

In Fig. 5 the parts are shown in normal or non-exposing position withthe container disposed adjacent the film 15. When it is desired toautograph the sensitized material the operator takes hold of the flange31 and pulls outwardly thereby sliding the container in the slot 22 andin the. slot 25 in the member 24 until the stop 41 seats itself in therecess 26 in said member thus preventing further movement. Then thecontainer is swung over against the side of the camera out of line withthe slot 22, through the turning of the member 24 in its bearing andassumes the position shown in Fig. 4. While the container and the hingemember 24 is being turned the curved portion of the end 2&0 engages thecurved bearing portion 21 aml the container is moved outwardly withlth'lNK'l, to the shutter whereby the openings 35) are brought intoregister with the shutter openings, as shown in Fig. 12, and remain inregister until the container is again swung into line with the slot 22in the member 20. Thus when the container is moved outwardly and swungover to writing position the shutter is moved to exposing position sothat the luminous material within the container can absorb its charge oflight as the data is being placed upon the ground glass writing surface35. Of course it is understood that this feature of exposing to light isnot essential where a purely radioactive substance is used as theluminous material.

IVith the container in the position shown in Fig. 4 the writing upon theslide may be done in pen or pencil and readily removed from the groundglass by erasing it. When the writing is finished the operator turns thecontainer and the member 24 back to bring the slot 25 into line with theslot 22 and then pushes the container inwardly to its position withinthe camera as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. In this connection it will benoted that by making the spring of such a strength.

as to require a greater force to compress it than that necessary toslide the container in the hinge member any liability of relativemovement between the container and the movable shutter 40 is prevented.lVith the parts in printing position the operator simply pressesinwardly on the projection 44 and this brings the slots or openings 44or 44 in the shutters 40 and 40 or the transparent portions of theshutter 44. into register with the openings in the plate 38 therebypermitting the light from the luminous material 37 to pass through theglass 35 and affect the sensitized material except at those portionswhere the writing appears as the light at these points is intercepted bythe writing and thus does not affect the film. The time of exposuredepends upon the lightemitting strength of the luminous material andwith a material of proper strength the exposure may be made by simplypressing the projection 44 into the recess 27 and keeping it in thisposition for about five seconds and then releasing it, the spring 48moving the slmttcr back so that the openings in the shutter and those inthe plate 38 are out of register.

In Fig. 11 I have shown in a general way the passage of the. light raysby diffraction through the grid and the glass and by test I have foundthat good printing results can be obtained when the slots 38 are of aninch in width and the distance between the slots slightly wider thaninch and the thick ness of the glass is of an inch. The plate 44 issimilar to the. plate 38. It will also be noted that by placing theluminous material in certain spots upon the paper similar to the mannerin which the shutter shown in Fig. S) is arranged, the plate 38 may bedispensed with.

l'Vhile I have described the container as being open at its ends it willbe noted that the ends of the shutter cover these openings at all timesagainst the admission of light.

Though the device is shown in conjunction with and prin'larily designedfor use in a camera it could be used independently of its connectionswith the camera as a separate device for nun'ibering or imprinting otherdata on sensitized photographic material while in a dark room.

I am aware that the details of construction herein shown and describedare capable of some modification and change and I therefore desire it tobe understood that such changes as come within the scope of the appendedclaims are Within the spirit of my mvention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1, In an autographic camera, the combination, with a camera having anopening in one of its walls, of a data receiving member movable in saidopening into and out of data impartmg position adjacent the sensitizedelement within the camera, means for furnlshing llght from a luminousmaterial, for printing the data on said member upon said sensitizedelement, and shutter mechanism provided with a multiplicity of exposureopenings for simultaneously exposing all portions of the sensitizedmaterial adjacent said data receiving member to the light from saidlight furnishing means.

2. In an autographic camera, the combination, with a camera, of asensitized material marking device provided with a member having awriting surface positionable adjacent the sensitized material in thecamera, a luminous element located in front of said member, and ashutter mechanism provided with av multiplicity of exposure openings forsimultaneously exposing all portions of the sensitized material adjacentsaid writing surface to the action of rays emitted from the luminouselement. I

3. In an autographic camera, the combination, with a camera having asensitized element therein and an opening in one of the walls of thecamera in line with the space in the camera in front of the sensitizedelement, of a data receiving member mounted to slide in said opening andmovable directly in front of said sensitized element into printingposition in said space, a luminous element in front of the datareceiving member, and means provided with a multiplicity of exposureopenings for simultaneously exposing all portions of said sensitizedelement to the rays emitted from said luminous element to simultaneouslyprint all the data upon said member upon said sensitized element.

4. In an autographic camera, the combination, with a camera, of asensitized material marking device provided with a translucid writingsurface on one side, a luminous element, and shutter mechanism pro--vided with a multiplicity of exposure openings interposed between saidsurface and said luminous element for controlling the passage of rays,emitted from the luminous portion, through said translucid writingsurface.

5. In an autographic camera, the combination, with a camera having anopening in one of its walls, of a container slidably movable in saidopening and pivotally secured to the camera so as to be swung againstthe same on its withdrawal, a member having a writing surface carried bythe container,

. means within the container furnishing a source of light, and meanscarried by the container for controlling the exposure of the sensitizedmaterial to the light from said light furnishing means.

6. In an autographic device, the combination, with a member providedwith a luminous element, of a grid arranged in sections, means movablerelatively thereto and forming a shutter to control the passage of lightemitted by the luminous element.

7. In an autographic device, the combination, with a camera, of asensitized material'marking device provided with a writing surface onone side positioned adjacent the sensitized material, a luminous elementarranged in sections and positioned on the opposite side of said markingdevice, agrid located between said luminous element and marking deviceand movable relative to the luminous element and forming a shutter, andmeans exterior of the camera for controlling said shutter.

8. In an autographic device, the combination, with a member providedwith luminous material, of means for difi'racting the light emitted fromsaid material, a'member having a translucid writing surface throughwhich said diffracted light passes, and means for controlling thepassage of light through said surface.

9. In an autographic camera having sensitized material therein, amarking device for said sensitized material embodying a translucidelement having a writing receiving surface on one side adapted to lieagainst said sensitized material, an actinic ray emitting luminouselement, and a shutter means located between said luminous andtranslucid elements, said shutter means having a multiplicity of lightopenings which are openable simultaneously to simultaneously expose theentire surface of the sensitized material adjacentthe marking device tothe rays of light from the luminous element.

10. In an autographic camera, the combination, with a camera having anopening in one of its side walls, of a hinge member pivotally mounted atthe opening and provided with a slot, an autographic device including aprinting member slidably mounted in said hingemember and movable toprinting position within the camera and to receiving position exteriorof the camera, and means for causing the data upon the printing memberto be printed upon the sensitized element within the camera. V

11. In an a'utographic camera, thecombination, with a camera having anopening in one of its side walls, of an autographic device slidablymovable in said opening to data imparting position within the camera anddata receiving position on the exterior of the camera and comprisin atranslucid, writing-receiving element, a uminouselement positioned tothe front thereof, a movable shutter for controlling the passage oflight from the luminous element through said writing-receiving element,manually operable means for controlling said shutter when said device ismoved to data imparting position on the exterior of the camera,

and automatically operable means for operating said shutter when saiddevice is moved to data receiving osition on the exterior of the camera.

12. In an autographic camera, the combination, with a camera having anopening in one of its side walls, of an autographic device movable insaid opening to data imparting and data receiving position on theinterior and exterior of the camera respectively and comprising a memberhaving a translucid writing element, a luminous element, and lightcontrol means interposed between said writing receiving element and saidluminous element.

13. An autographic device comprising a 'translucid element for receivingdata, a

luminous element, and means interposed between the data receivingelement and said luminous element to control the passage of rays oflight, emitted by the luminous element, through the data receivingelement.

14. An autographic device comprising a translucid member having awriting-receiving surface for receiving data, a luminous element, and ashutter means interposed between the data receiving member and saidluminous element and constructed to simultaneously expose the whole ofsaid surface to the rays of light emitted by the luminous element.

15. An autographic device comprising a piece of glass ground on itsouter side to form a writing receiving surface, means for causing lightto pass through said writing receiving surface, and meansinterposedbetween said writing receiving surface and said first namedmeans for controlling the passage of light through said Writingreceiving surface.

16. An autographic device comprising a frame, a translucid member havinga surface for receiving data, and secured to said frame, a memberprovided with an actinic ray emitting coating, a two part gratinginterposed between said surface and said coating to difl'ract the lightrays, one part of sald grating being movable with respect to the otherto control the passage of the emitted rays.

17. The combination, with a camera having an opening in one of itswalls, of an au tographic device, movable in said opening to dataimparting position adjacent the sensitized element wlthin the camera andto data receiving position exterior of the camera and comprising amember having a translucid writing receiving surface, a second memberprovided with an actinic ray emitting coatlng, a two part gratinginterposed between said writing receiving surface and said actinic rayemitting coating to diffract the light rays, one part of said gratingbeing movable with respect to the other, and means operable from theexterior of the camera to move said movable grating. 18. Thecombination, with a camera having an openin in one of its walls, of acontalner movab e in said openin and provided with a translucid mem erhaving a writing receiving surface and movable to data impartingposition adjacent the sensitized element within the camera and to datareceiving position exterior of the camera, an actinic ray emittingcoating on a base within the container, a movable shutter interposedbetween said coating and said writing receiving surface, means normallymaintaining the shutter in light excluding position and means operablefrom the exterior of the camera for opening the shutter to expose thesensitized material adjacentv said writing receiving surface.

19. The combination, with a camera having an opening in one of itswalls, of a hinge member pivotally mounted on the camera adjacent saidopening and havin an opening therein communicating with t e opening. inthe wall of the camera, a container slidably mounted in said openingsand provided with a translucid member having a writing receivingsurface, an actinic ra emitting coating on a base, and a slidab ymovable shutter interposed between said coating and said writingreceiving surface, means for normally holding said shutter in lightexcluding position,the movement of said shutter to exposing positionbeing manually controlled when the container is within the camera, andmeans for automatically moving said shutter to exposing position whensaid container is moved outward and turned with said hinge member todata receiving position.

20. In an autographic device, the combination, with an actinic rayemittin coating on a base member, of a two part dlfl'raotion gratingdisposed adjacent thereto to difi'ract the light rays, one part of saidgrating being movable with respect to the other to control the passageof the emitted rays through said grating.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

JOHN P. BETHKE.

